Never Leaving
by ChucklingDevil
Summary: An owl sits and waits. He never moves, he never sleeps, and he never gives up. A short story on how Jareth continued his watch for the girl he loves. A linear series of Drabble chapters based on 'The Script's', "Man Who Can't be Moved"
1. Chapter 1

**(AN: **This is going to be a series of Drabbles inspired by _The Script_'s 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved. Not my usual style of music, but, **_Cybrokat _**converted me with her beautiful piece '_The Man Who Can't Be Moved'_. A Harry Potter fanfic, one of the best Snape/Hermione I've ever read. Thank you, my dear, for creating such a piece and introducing me to this song.  
**Sit back and enjoy my written desires.)**

**Disclaimer: I hold no rights over Labyrinth; including characters, concepts, Bowie and plotline.  
I do not own rights to ****_The Script_****'s 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved.'**

* * *

He would always wait.

That's what he told himself. It didn't matter that she no longer dreamed of goblins and their king, the adventures that she could have, the characters she could play. She wouldn't do that, not when she could call upon her friends and bring them from his world just by her will alone. Bring the traitorous cretins that she saw fit to occupy her time with. She needn't play pretend in the park and recite lines to her dog.

She didn't dream anymore, not here, not in the place that he first laid eyes upon her.

* * *

**(AN:** And for those who don't know, a Drabble is a piece of fiction consisting of exactly one-hundred words. So, obviously I won't be counting my Author's Notes in the word count. That would just be cruel...  
**Until next time, your ever faithful personal devil awaits.)**


	2. Chapter 2

He wasn't a fool. He knew many things, things that mortals would not, could not, dare to even dream of. He could bend this world and the next to his will, move the very stars to his whim, and tear down whole cities if he so chose.

But he wasn't a fool, he would wait for her, and she would come. It did not matter whether she came with intentions of seeking him out, but she would come. He would be here and she would see.

Until that time, he would wait, and ponder the fruits of Fate's cruel twist.


	3. Chapter 3

He perched resolutely atop the obelisk and stared out to the still body of water, a slight breeze pushing against its surface every once and a while, dark eyes filled with thoughts.

He had been waiting a full week now, waiting for her to return here. She had always come here, to this place. This place where she could read and fantasise, and where she was free to do as she pleased.

It had been one whole week of waiting for her to come to him, waiting for her to come to the park's obelisk, to his obelisk.

Their obelisk.


	4. Chapter 4

He stared down at the little girl, he had faced crueler ones, and he could outlast this creature. Her curious blue eyes stared back at him, as she stretched on her toes, trying to get a better look at the owl that she had seen guarding the obelisk.

Those blue eyes were deep and youthful; they held such curiosity and imagination. But they weren't the eyes that he sought, the eyes of a girl that could change with her.

The eyes he sought could be hard and cold, warm and compassionate. They were endlessly understanding, and they were naïve.

Pity.


	5. Chapter 5

Fate was such a fickle mistress. She worked alongside Time, when it suited her. Why did they have to be entwined in this hardship of his? What had he done to deserve such a twisted path?

Fate had chosen the woman that he had sought for, for centuries, nay, for millennia. Why was it that she saw fit to entertain herself and Time, and bring about the woman he had been searching for, far too early in both their existences?

Fate and Time were mirrored in her eyes. She was too young, yet she was old enough to understand.

Cruel.

* * *

**(AN:** okay, that's my update for now. I'll upload another five chapters next time, I'm not sure when that will be...  
And for those of you who follow _Marked_ and actually enjoy it, don't worry, I'm still working on it.  
**Until next time, your ever faithful personal devil awaits.)**


	6. Chapter 6

He ruffled his feathers against the cool air, fluffing them out and trapping air that would heat itself and him. His eyes, deep obsidian and full of the endless knowledge that immortality had helped him gain, looked glassily out to the skies above.

They were grey today. The clouds were thick and threatened rain. It didn't matter. He would outlive the floods and still be unmoved.

Again, he ruffled his feathered form and let a moment slip, a moment where he could close his eyes and picture the one he waited for. Another breeze pushed at him.

The illusion broke.


	7. Chapter 7

The girl came back again.

He didn't know why. He sat again on his perch and turned to regard the youth. He stared once more into her eyes, disappointment setting in.

The eyes he sought belonged to another, and this young girl was only adding to the feelings that had blossomed within his bosom. He would have to wait. That's all he could do. Wait for the eyes that would look at him and see what no one else could, the eyes that understood everything and nothing.

The blue that regarded him with curiosity were nothing.

They were not her.


	8. Chapter 8

The owl looked over to the bridge that crossed the lake, the path that disappeared into the trees and would take him to her house. The house he hadn't dared to venture towards since she had defeated him, bested him with polished words and blunt determination.

It would be so easy just to wing his way there. So easy to just think of her and appear by her side.

But he wouldn't do that. Not if there was a possibility of her coming to him, coming to him of her own free will.

She could not fault him for that.


	9. Chapter 9

Those blue eyes were back.

He did not even bother to acknowledge her presence this time. Instead, continuing to stare out and across the park. Constantly on the watch for the one with pale green fires, fires that both warmed and burned his soul. He would wait for the green-eyed beauty.

Seeking her dark tresses that had been free flowing, when last he had seen her. He wandered at times. What had she changed about herself since the weeks that had past? Was she still as crass and compelling?

The little girl went unnoticed as she studied his longing gaze.


	10. Chapter 10

What if he was wrong?

It would not be the first time that he had questioned himself when it came to the human that had captured his attention. He had done it often enough, contemplations of what had gone wrong, of what he could have possibly changed to make her stay, humbled.

He had been so sure before her, always going ahead with plans without a second thought. He hadn't needed to rethink anything, not until she had fixed herself, albeit unknowingly, into his life. He was so unsure of his life now.

Would things ever be the same?

Doubtful.


	11. Chapter 11

This time was different; she brought along others, young and intrigued by nearly all they saw, intrigued by the unwavering owl.

Sounds of amazement made their way to his ears. He didn't care. They could do whatever they liked, he would not acknowledge them in any way, would not break his watch. He would continue to wait for her, only then would he move.

Again, he ignored the little girl with the blue eyes, the eyes that now held worry. Worry for him, him and his solitude, his unmoving form, and the sadness she could see in his stare.

Wasted.


	12. Chapter 12

They finally found him. After all the time that he had spent Above in his personal Hell, a Hell that looked so peaceful with its natural beauty. A place where she still hadn't come.

First it was only the lowly of his kingdom. Their confusion as to their king's whereabouts had finally brought them out. Seeking his council in things too mundane for him, things that could wait, that could be fixed without him. Then the other beings of his Labyrinth, his domain, came.

He would not even move for his kingdom.

He needed the one his heart belonged to.


	13. Chapter 13

Another two weeks had passed, and still no sign of the one he longed for. He was beginning to tire, his form growing stiff with the lack of movement. He needed to be alert, though. He would not rest, only to find that he had missed her when she had come. If that were to happen, he would not know what he would do with himself.

Aching wings stretched to their full span as his body moved for the first time since he perched on the grey monolith in the park. The pleasant pain of limbs being used subsided.

Alert.


	14. Chapter 14

A statue.

That was what he was becoming. He laughed at the notion but his laughter wasn't filled with humour. Bitterness and unease had settled heavily in his chest. The longing and loneliness in his being had only grown with his stay.

Perhaps he would turn to stone, this obelisk claiming him as part of itself.

He laughed again, laughed at the idea that she would come long after that, ever vigil in his search for her return. She might weep then, or maybe even celebrate. Either way, it would be cruel.

Father Time would wear away at him, then.


	15. Chapter 15

They brought others this time, both the human children and his goblins. They were concerned, his subjects, and they were intrigued, the spectators of the Above and the Courts.

He ignored them all.

The children could not see the magical beings that concealed themselves and he would not give them away. He would not acknowledge either party. They held nothing for him, nothing but reminders of what he didn't have, of what he longed for and what he was willing to give up.

The only thing to break his stoic form was the whisper of one powerful being.

"Goblin King."


	16. Chapter 16

Liquid, obsidian eyes stared through the throngs of beings and fixed themselves on the hard eyes of his own Ruler. This being, he could not ignore.

"Goblin King, you have to come back. Back, to where you belong, back to your kingdom that you've left to ruin in your leave. Come back to the Courts and forget about whatever it is you seek."

He continued to stare doggedly at the Queen of all, but made no move to concede to her wishes. She didn't know. To make her understand he would have to stop Time itself.

What a novel idea.


	17. Chapter 17

"I will not leave." His tone was respectful but it was also strong, and he would not be cowed.

"Jareth." It was a sigh that escaped her lips, exasperation and nothing more. "What could possibly hold you hear when you have a kingdom to run? Your subjects need you."

He stared into her bottomless eyes. Time and Fate, and Death and Rebirth were endless in their pits.

"I am not moving, my Queen. There is someone I wait for."

Resolve crumbled and she studied his heart and soul, and saw what was there.

Damnation for him, and for that girl.


	18. Chapter 18

"Love as stolen your heart."

He bowed his salute of the statement. She knew what this would mean.

"How can I live on and continue in my rule without her?" It was such a simple question. Only fools would think so.

"Very well, Jareth." She bowed her head and Time started his flow once more, first slow and questioning, as the Goblin King was once more perched atop the obelisk with a stare that would last the ages. The creatures about him moved once more, the children stared and the magical disappeared.

He had acceptance, now. Fate would intervene soon.


	19. Chapter 19

The white barn owl sat stubbornly through the snow that the wind insisted upon buffeting him with. The weather was harsh, but he did not care. He had survived the rain, he too could survive the snow, and there was only one physical difference between the two.

He looked to the tower, with its mocking judge of Time, and gazed at the hands that moved with an insulting pace of slowness.

She would be here soon, that was what he constantly told himself. Surely she would come to the place that held such memories, a place that was hers.

Stubbornness.


	20. Chapter 20

The red blur caught his attention, he could not help it, not with the constant white that the snow had coated the place in. It was as if Time had frozen this park and its owl, alone. To see such a colour amongst the white was something different and it was all he could do not to stare at its hypnotic tone.

Blue eyes sought his and came with a small, warm smile. The little girl had returned and he just knew that she would be back again, with new vigour in those damn eyes.

Resentment settled in his being.


End file.
